Hot Java (With Chips) Sun Microsystems’ New Language Could Remake Computing Industry

How hot is Java, the programming language from Sun Microsystems Inc. that has industry wags suggesting it could remake the computing industry? So hot that 5,500 people are jamming conference rooms at the Moscone Center in San Francisco for Java One, Sun’s first annual developers conference, that began Wednesday and ends today.

So hot that 20 books on Java programming already are in print, with 70 more in production.

So hot that 60 companies have set up booths at the conference, even though Java is only a year old and hasn’t yet made money for anyone - except possibly the publishers putting out all those how-to books.

Why is Java so hot?

Lew Tucker, head of developer relations for Sun’s Javasoft subsidiary in Cupertino, jokingly described Java as “totally buzzword compliant.”

Java is designed from the ground up to work with the Internet, the current mania among technology investors. Java is also “object oriented,” a Holy Grail for programmers that allows them to piece together pre-designed building blocks of software programming language rather than write out every line of code. And Java is “platform independent,” meaning a program written in Java will work on any type of computing device equipped with a translation program to read Java files.

Mountain View-based Sun has lined up a huge array of supporters for Java, including Apple Computer Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., Netscape Communications Corp. and Oracle Corp.

Three announcements at the conference show how that support is motivating other companies.

Mitsubishi’s Electronic Device Group in Sunnyvale, Calif., said it is developing a low-cost Java microprocessor. The chip is intended for hand-held devices, such as navigational aides using the Global Positioning System satellite network, and cable TV set-top boxes. These devices would receive Java programs through a telephone line, cable connection or wireless broadcast. Later this year, Mitsubishi will ship a Java-based paperback-book-sized personal digital assistant with a touch screen.

National Semiconductor Corp. plans to embed the Java operating system into chips used to build phones and devices that can readily access the Internet.

Its first product will be the iPhone - a telephone with built-in access to Internet services - which National Semiconductor is jointly designing.

Corel Corp. of Ottawa, Ontario, said it is developing a Java version of its Corel Office suite, which includes the popular WordPerfect word processor. Although the Java version won’t offer all the features of the full Corel suite, users with Java devices costing $500 or less could work with the familiar WordPerfect, as well as the Quattro Pro spreadsheet.

In concert with those deals, Sun made a series of announcements, including the introduction of its new Java operating system. The operating system will allow users to run Java programs on small electronic devices like pagers and telephones.

“Java should really have been called WD-40, because parts of the computer industry had rusted shut,” said Jon Kannegaard, Javasoft’s chief operating officer. In other words, Sun believes Java will quickly become a widely adopted standard supporting the shift to new types of computing devices and distribution of software through the Internet.

Java got its biggest endorsement last week, when Oracle of Redwood City officially unveiled its much-touted “network computer” initiative to build $500 devices that would only function using Java software.

Also last week, the telephone company Northern Telecom Ltd. said it would incorporate Java into future generations of “smart” phones. Northern Telecom gave the example of a real-estate agent toting a cellular phone with a small built-in display screen. If a client doesn’t like one house, the agent could summon up the description and even a photograph of another house on the spot.